Tauriel
by Storybookwriter
Summary: Tauriel has lived with her grandmother at the outside of the Mirkwood realm. So far in her twenty-six years of existance, her life has lead an uneventful course. Then she met the Prince; a young elf who is only two years her senior, when he finally succeeds to sneak out beyond the palace walls. This new freinship sends her life spiralling unseen events.


Tauriel: How she came to be

Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Northern Mirkwood wasn't supposed to be without his assigned servant, much less outside to the palace walls without the protection of his father, the king; but there he was in one of the many forests that grew within the walls, alone. This was the first time he ever made such an achievement, and he was willing to savor his freedom, until a servant or a guard would come along, scold him, and drag him back to the palace, where his angry father would punish him.

He'd been many small forests during the rare moments when Thranduil wandered from the palace walls; but this however, was his favorite one. The ground was almost completely hidden from sight due to the amount of the golden leaves that had fallen from the trees, but many leaves of that color were still producing plentifully on the dark branches. The sun bounced off the leaves, making it seem that the leaves were in fact, made of pure gold.

_What was that?!_

Legolas's head instinctively snapped upwards to what he thought he heard was rustling in the tree-tops. There was silence, as he stared at the supposed place, his blue orbs squinting. Half a minute went, but other than his own, no movements could be seen in the forest.

_Maybe it was my imaginat-There it is again!_

Legolas now knew for a fact, that those sounds weren't from the teasing from his own mind. Something was definitely out there, and it was watching him. His eyes quickly skimmed the scene back and forth, until he finally caught sight of movement at the corner of his eye. In one motion, he scooped up a nearby rock and threw it at the rustling branches. There was a cry of surprise and pain, before the same rock was launched from seemly nowhere, and struck his arm. Legolas jumped and rubbed his arm as an elleth, around his age he guessed, revealed her from the camouflage of the leaves and branches, rubbing her temple.

"Now what did you go and do that for?!"

This elleth had long red hair unlike anything he'd ever seen. Most elves that were born and raised in the Mirkwood realm had brown or chestnut-colored hair, but hers was a bright red that appeared to be on fire when sunlight shown against it. It was pretty simple to tell the elleth's mouth was fixed in a frown, even from the ground. She wore a dark green dress, which appeared to be faded and patched. Her legs, he noticed were clad in brown tights; a piece of clothing only worn by the men.

"I thought you were a spider." Legolas said simply with a hint of haughtiness.

"Don't be stupid! Giant spiders only inhabit the Mirkwood Forest. They couldn't climb the walls without the guards killing them first."

She plopped down on the branch she was standing on.

Legolas was slightly taken aback by the elleth's comment. He was raised as a prince, so he was never spoken to in such a fashion. The only elflings his age, were children of the servants, and were brought up to speak to the king and prince with the upmost respect. Most of the elves that grew up outside of the palace walls had never laid eyes on their rulers. Judging by her disrespectful tone and the fact that he couldn't recall her face, Legolas figure she was one of those elves; the "Common Folk" his father would often call them.

"What is your name?" Legolas questioned.

"It is considered courteous to give your name first."

This girl obviously didn't know who she was talking to; but that would change when he will mention his name.

"Fine. It is Legolas. Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Northern Mirkwood."

There was a silent exchange between them.

_Ha! I bet she's regretting saying those things to me now!_

"Aren't princes like you supposed to have a body-guard or a servant or something?"

Well _that _was unexpected. He predicted that she would stumble over her sentences as she apologized repeatedly. After all, that's what happened when a servant forgot to refer to him as "prince".

"I snuck out! First time at that!" He announced triumphantly and full of pride."And what about you? Aren't little elflings like you supposed to be with their parents?" Legolas countered.

Even from this distance, he could see her eyes flash with anger. They were green, as bright as his eyes were blue, he noted.

"My grandmother knows where I'm at! I spend every day here!"

She hadn't mentioned her parents. Legolas figured by the way her eyes flashed, that he was treading in dangerous and uncharted territory with this elleth. It would best be wise that he change the topic completely to avoid an angry confrontation with her. Besides, his father knew of everyone in his realm. If he wanted to know something about someone, he always questioned his father about them. There was no need to wrestle information from them, and possibly get a bloody nose or worse in the process.

"Are you afraid?" Legolas called up.

"No! What makes you think I'm afraid?!"

"You're still up in that tree. You must be afraid if you hadn't come down yet!"

Legolas heard her growl as she began jumping on branches and sliding down the trunk. When her feet came in contact with the ground, it was revealed that she was shorter than Legolas. Just by a head though.

"How old are you?" She questioned.

"Twenty-eight."

"I'm twenty-six."

"That explains a lot." He smirked while patting her head.

The elleth glared at him with her green orbs before swatting his hand away.

A twisted smile formed on her lips.

"Well, you defiantly aren't trying to be the older one with braids like those." She giggled as she tugged at a small French-braid at the side of his head. It was Legolas's turn to get offended and swat her hand away. She brought her hands up to her mouth, laughing into them.

"Prince Legolas! Where are you!? You're father's not going to be happy when he hears you've been outside the palace walls without him!"

The laughing immediately ceased from the elleth, and she dashed towards the same tree she was in.

"Wait!"

She turned.

"I still don't know your name."

She was silent, as she listened to the elf, clearly the prince's assigned servant draw nearer. Deciding she had time to hide herself before he came, green eyes met the blue.

"My name is Tauriel." She said, before scrambling up the trunk like a squirrel. She disappeared into the golden leaves, just as the servant burst forth from the thicket.

"My Prince! There you are! Your father would have my head if anything happened to you!" He proceeded to grab the prince's hand and began practically dragging him away.

Legolas threw his head over his shoulder, just in time to see Tauriel peeking from the branches. If the servant noticed, their exchange, he didn't care. He was too preoccupied with getting the prince home safely in the palace.

"Do not go wandering off again!" The servant scolded him. "It will only mean trouble! There are strange folk wandering around here lately."


End file.
